The old record holders were The Producers and Billy Elliot, both tied at 15. And The Producers is the one to beat, having won 12 Tonys.
From listening to the cast recording and the clips I’ve seen it deserves every one.
I don’t hate hip-hop, I just don’t like it. It’s the same feeling as I have with jazz: I can tell it takes talent and there’s the odd piece I find catchy but most is just not my preference, so I was hesitant to listen to Hamilton. Finally did, and it’s fecking brilliant.
It’s also not all hip-hop- that’s mainly used for the exposition. It also has some beautiful melodies as well as the very playful British invasion numbers by the king (speaking of which I also don’t usually like Jonathan Groff but love his singing as King George on the OBC recording). And the way he captures the source material is just something I wouldn’t have believed could be done. From rapping the Code Duello in Ten Duel Commandments to Hamilton’s reconciliation with his wife, it all just falls gloriously into place.
Lin Manuel Miranda could have made it in any era of musical theater. Like Golden Corral on Wednesday, he has the chops.
It’s funny, I had the same journey from the opposite direction. I love hip-hop and I grew up listening to it. I was hesitant to listen to Hamilton cause I’m normally unimpressed by non-rappers trying to make hip-hop music. But when I finally did listen to it, I was blown away by it. And there are a ton of subtle nods to hip-hop fans. I love it.
There are ALSO a ton of subtle nods to classic Broadway shows/tunes. It’s kind of amazing that he can directly reference Biggie Smalls and South Pacific in one musical without either feeling forced or trite.
It’s up against itself a lot! Both Miranda and Odom are up for Leading Actor, and Diggs, Groff, and Jackson are all up for Featured Actor. They might lose those categories due to splitting the vote.
I stayed in the hotel across the street from it’s current theater when I visited New York, just shortly after it premiered there. I don’t know if tickets were as hard to get then, but I’m really wishing I had tried to get them. Now I’m waiting for the Chicago performance.
“Sit down John… you fat mutha88ah!” was my favorite shoutout (to “Sit Down John” from 1776).
What’s the shout-out to South Pacific?
That’s going to be tough, considering that Hamilton is nominated in only 13 categories, and from what I have heard, at least one of the two actresses nominated is not expected to win.
That was going to be my question.
They’re nominated 16 times, but how many can they win since I know that multiple Hamiltons are nommed in one category
Past Oscar nominees or winners(*) up for Tonys:
Jessica Lange*, Frank Langella, Lupita Nyong’o*, Sophie Okonedo, Michael Shannon, Michelle Williams. Not to mention well-known film/TV actors Jeff Daniels, Laurie Metcalf, Gabriel Byrne & Mark Strong. These are all in the drama categories.
Broadway is less notorious for giving away awards just for being a crossover talent from a more popular medium, but the biggest “name” in the musical categories is Jane Krakowski (who already has a Tony). It will be very cool to see so many Hamilton! players (on stage and BTS) accepting awards that night. But scoring a perfect 13 out of 13 will be tough.
The Producers won every category for which it was nominated, and there wasn’t any vote-splitting in both its male categories (where there were multiple nominees) so that might not be as big a concern as the female categories where there will be a bigger assortment of productions to choose from.
Has there been a major award split in any of the EGOTs since Streisand and Hepburn split the Best Actress Oscar?
From the Tony Awards site:
There have been a number of ties in Tony Awards history, including:
Actress in a Musical (1958): Gwen Verdon, New Girl in Town and Thelma Ritter, New Girl in Town
Featured Actor in a Musical (1959): Russell Nype, Goldilocks, and Leonard Stone, Redhead
Musical (1960): The Sound of Music and Fiorello!
Actress in a Musical (1962): Anna Maria Alberghetti, Carnival! and Diahann Carroll, No Strings
Actress in a Musical (1968): Patricia Routledge, Darling of the Day and Leslie Uggams, Hallelujah, Baby!
Costume Design (1977): Theoni V. Aldredge, Annie and Santo Loquasto, The Cherry Orchard
Actress in a Play (1979): Constance Cummings, Wings and Carole Shelley, The Elephant Man
Scenic Design (1980): John Lee Beatty, Talley’s Folly and David Mitchell, Barnum
Score (1993): John Kander/Fred Ebb, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Pete Townshend, The Who’s Tommy
Orchestrations (2009): Martin Koch, Billy Elliot, The Musical and Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt, Next to Normal
Geniuses, lower your voices.
Keep out of trouble and you double your choices.
I’m with you, but the situation is fraught.
You have to be carfully taught:
If you talk, you’re gonna get shot.
Yeah, I saw that this morning. I think anyone in the musical category who doesn’t pull on knee-breeches eight times a week may as well save themselves some time and money and stay home on Tony night…
Although I was slightly disappointed that George Takei’s “Allegiance” didn’t even get a single nod.
The Song of the Year Grammy in 1977 was a tie between “You Light Up My Life” by Joe Brooks and “Love Theme from ‘A Star Is Born’ (Evergreen)” by Paul Williams and Barbara Streisand
Me too.
But I think the truth is they needed to workshop Allegiance more than they did… it had all the hallmarks of a really successful hit, but I think they forced the show to Broadway too quickly.
Miranda worked on writing Hamilton for six years. 
Interestingly enough, Allegiance came about because by complete coincidence, Takei and his husband sat next to a computer engineer named Lorenzo Thione for a performance of Lin-Manuel’s earlier hit “In The Heights.” They got to talking about musicals … and Thione was no ordinary computer engineer; he had founded a company that Microsoft bought and used some of the funds to produce musicals… so as they discussed concepts and stories, Takei had a great one – his own! And Thione had cash and a knowledge of Broadway productions.
For anyone wanting to listen to the show on their portables it’s available free on the database Hoopla (accessible through your library) and from Amazon Prime, as well as on YouTube of course.
This is my biggest fear. I hope, since Miranda is up for lots of others, they’ll give it to Odom. Plus he’s just amazing.
Mind you, this is all based on the album and various videos.
Off to buy a lottery ticket now.
(bolding mine)
In one interview, he mentions that it took him a year to write ‘My Shot’. A year! And it’s no wonder, given how dense the song is and how much characterization and thematic richness is in it.